Tok'ra Interference
by Rose Stetson
Summary: What if Jack wasn't the only once who wasn't healed by Ayiana?
1. Prologue

**Tok'ra**

AU around "Frozen"

Summary: What if Jack wasn't the only one that Ayiana couldn't heal?

Major Samantha Carter, Ph.D. of the United States Air Force awoke suddenly, sweating. The nightmare had occurred several times before after her affliction with the Virus of the Touched, but now it was back- in some form. The raw animal instinct, the indescribably withheld passion, and the relentless knowledge of wrong-doing.

But instead of being in the locker room, they were in a luxurious room with candles burning and silk sheets…they were in her bedroom.

She blinked, trying to clear her mind of the images and feelings. She got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom sink. She splashed cold water on her slightly feverish face and neck. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like she had just fought World War III single-handedly. And as far as she knew, she could have. But how, she wondered, could she have triggered a recurring nightmare if she couldn't even remember what she had done over the last few weeks?

She began to brew a cup of coffee.

Maybe she should mention the nightmares to Janet. After all, the physician would certainly notice the dark circles under her eyes and ask her how much sleep she had been getting.

That would just land her on MacKenzie's couch, she thought. He would try to analyze her dreams and come up with her inappropriate feelings for Ja- Colonel O'Neill.

She sighed. It was going to be another long night.

* * *

It was 0800 hours, and Jack was sitting in the commissary, drinking coffee to ward off the intense urge to fall asleep right there. He had never been one to pull all-nighters before, but the nightmare had left him unable to sleep. Of course, if he knew why he was dreaming of such a…of such an impossibility, he wouldn't be quite as disturbed…he hoped. 

It was strange, he admitted, but the thing that was most vivid about the dream was the scent of the candles burning romantically in the background: Pralines and Vanilla- Samantha's favorite scent. _"Jack,"_ she had moaned.

She had never called him that before…at least, not that he remembered.

"Sir?" Her voice made him jump, spilling the coffee onto the table.

"Carter!" He groaned as he reached for the napkins. He began wiping up the liqiuid as quickly as he could.

"Sorry, sir.' She said, getting another handful of napkins to help with the mess.

"No problem."

"Have trouble sleeping?" She asked.

"Ya think?"

"Occasionally," she responded.

He looked up from his task to catch the gleam in her eye.

"Well, how 'bout you?" He asked.

She sighed. "Same. Couldn't sleep. Well, actually, I've been up since 0230 hours."

"I saw you in the lab at 0130 hours, Carter."

She chuckled, derisively. "Yep, I got less than an hour of sleep."

"That's not good."

"Well, that's life."

"No, Carter. That's YOUR life."

She smiled. "Grouchy, are you?"

"I didn't get very much sleep all because of a nightmare, and then when you came, you made me drop my coffee! And that hasn't happened to me since before my Black Ops days..." He said, irritated.

She chuckled.

"That's not funny," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, sir." She said, as he got up to get himself another cup of coffee.

"So, Carter, what's the briefing a bout today?" He asked, returning to the booth.

She looked somewhat embarrassed. "I'm not sure. I"m having some...issues with my memory."

Jack studied her. "Maybe you should see Doctor Fraiser."

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"Carter, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Antarctica. You know, Ayiana."

"Same here."

Her blood froze. "And your nightmare?"

He just looked at her, but continued. "Just...a nightmare."

He was giving her a strange look and she shruffed. "I should probably see Janet."

"She'll probably give you a sleeping pill." He cautioned.

"And for once, I would welcome i."

Jack pondered this for a moment. "Wait up, Carter!"

"Yes, sir?"

"I think I'll join you."


	2. Chapter 1: New Faces of the Program

**Chapter 1: (Eighteen years later)**

"Jack! I need her!" Daniel said over the phone to one of his oldest friends as he sat in the desk that had belonged once to General Hammond, Dr. Weir, General O'Neill, General Landry and now belonged to himself. "She is THE expert in anything relating to physics!"

"Daniel! The last thing that place needs is another egghead!" The Joint Chief of the Air Force said, heatedly.

"Jack, she isn't just another egghead! She won the Nobel Prize for her work in the field of Quantum Physics. People twice her age haven't even got a clue what's going on in her head!"

"You are not getting an eighteen-year-old to head Scientific Research at the SGC!"

"Jack! She's friggin' brilliant! She got her doctorate at fifteen, bypassing her undergraduate and most of her high school work to do so. The only reason she wasn't given her award then was because of her age. They figured that they should wait until she was at least eighteen. And since then, she has all but built a Stargate!"

"Daniel, I made you the civilian director of the Stargate Program because I thought you were smart. Now, I'm thinking you've gone senile!"

"Jack, I'm only fifty-six. If anyone's going senile, it's you!"

"What?" He asked.

"Jack, you're ten years older than I am!"

"And I act twenty years younger than you do."

"Then, you'd realize better than anybody that age is not a given indicator of one's maturity!"

"Oh no! I am SO not having an eighteen-year-old in charge of Scientific Research! If you want, you can have McKay."

"Jack…"

"I told you! I am not going to allow you to hire an eighteen year old civilian!"

"Jack, her theories on wormhole and quantum physics are based on Sam's theories. Only, they're…I don't know, a hundred times more intricate. Not just vague observations."

"Hey! Carter was brilliant!"

"I know. And she was great for the time that we had her, but…when are you going to let her go, and let us move on?"

From the silence on the other side of the conversation, Daniel realized that he had hit a gigantic nerve. Samantha Carter had left eighteen years ago without saying good-bye to anyone except General Hammond…and he hadn't had any idea where she was.

That wasn't to say that Jack didn't use all of his training to find her, he did just that…but somehow she had dug herself a foxhole so deep that not even Agent Barrett, who had the resources of legitimate and illegitimate operations alike, could find her.

"Fine Daniel. Hire the damn girl. Whatever you think is best."

"Jack…" Daniel started.

"I gave you what you wanted, Daniel!" He stormed. "Now leave me the hell alone!"


	3. Chapter 2: Old Playbacks New Player

Dr. Grace Jacklyn Carter was escorted to Daniel Jackson's office on sublevel 27 of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Her curly brown hair was loosely gathered at the nape of her neck. She wore tan slacks and a red, white and blue blouse. Gold studs adorned her ear while a simple gold chain with a blue topaz pendant lay unobtrusively around her neck, highlighting her blue eyes.

"Dr. Carter." Daniel said with a smile. "I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson, the civilian director of the Stargate Program."

She nodded, respectfully. "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Jackson."

"It's Daniel. Please…have a seat."

"Thank you." She said, sitting in the chair opposite the desk and crossing her shapely legs.

"Dr. Carter, I have to tell you…your work is…impressive."

She chuckled. "It's Grace, and thank you."

"Well, then…Grace, I, uh…I worked with a woman a few years ago that I thought was brilliant, but…you're blowing her theories out of the water faster than I ever thought possible."

"Well, thank you again."

Something about her bothered Daniel, but he couldn't place his finger on it…she had a nice, crisp business look, she seemed to be in good enough shape to be sent through the Stargate on the occasional mission…

Meanwhile, Grace sat there, memories rising to the surface of her subconscious, almost drowning her in thoughts, feelings and sensations.

_Dr. MacKenzie's lilting voice. "You're now completely relaxed. I want you to go back to the day you last saw Daniel, he's with you now. Can you see it?" _

_"Yes." _

_She saw him. Fire, there was lots of fire. She couldn't breathe. "He's burning!" _

_"No. Go back further, you've just arrived. Now look around, and tell me where you are." _

_"Water." _

_"Your standing next to Water?" _

_"Salt water." _

_She saw the mission…but Daniel was taken captive. "Help him!" _

_"I want you to move on to what happened next." He said, urgently. _

_She shook her head, trying to get past the fire…all the fire…but he's here. He's right here in this room. _

_"Darkness…Cold…Wet…" _

_"We've got to get to the water!" She screamed, feeling trapped underwater. _

_"Captain!" MacKenzie said trying to wake her up. _

_"We've got to get out of here!" She said, a feeling of utter hopelessness overwhelm her. _

_"Carter!" He said, grabbing her by the shoulders. She felt so safe with those arms around her… He's finally able to shake off the haze covering her mind. "My God, Colonel, we left him behind!" _

_"I know." He said, pulling her into a hug. _

_"We left him behind!" She repeated _

_It's all right. We're going back…we're going back." He said, his arms still comfortingly around her. _

"Grace, are you all right?"

She looked up. "Yes. I'm sorry, my mind tends to wander."

"Well with that level of proficiency, I would guess that it has to in order to maintain some level of sanity." Daniel said, still somewhat worried about her. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded. "It's nothing. My mother says I can daydream about as well as I can solve equations. If that's going to be a problem…"

"Oh no…no…"

"Good."

"I am going to have to run a complete background check on you, and you're going to have to subject to a thorough medical exam in addition to a few physical aptitude tests."

She nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Daniel." She said, standing.

Suddenly, it dawned on Daniel what was wrong. She said his name the way Sam had said it. "Well, thank you, Dr. Carter." He said. Maybe he was just getting too close to the girl. Maybe distancing himself from her would keep him from inferring things that weren't true.

"Please, call me Grace. Dr. Carter makes me sound like I'm my mother."

"Your mother?"

"Dr. Samantha Carter, the pioneer in the field of wormhole physics and Stargate technologies. I studied her theories on wormhole physics and other various phenomena voraciously as a child. Or I guess, at an earlier stage of my development. I suppose I'm still a child to some people."

Daniel's eyes widened. "Samantha Carter is your mother?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"And your father?"

"I've never met him."

Suddenly, Daniel knew exactly why the girl had him on edge. Her brown hair, her crooked smile, her blue eyes and soft tone of voice. This was Jack's daughter. The daughter he was never allowed to have. He would need to have Cassandra run some tests. He had to know for sure before he decided to do anything about it.

"If you'll follow me, our medical doctor, Cassandra Fraiser-Miller, is ready to run the examination."

"Thank you." She said, following him to the elevator.

_"I can take her from here now Captain." _

_"No, sir, it's okay." She said as the elevator doors opened. _

_"This elevator goes down 30 floors through solid rock. It takes about 3 minutes to get to the bottom. That gives you four minutes to start back up." _

_She nodded and walked into the elevator. Jack nodded at the soldier controlling the elevator. The elevator doors closed, and she tried hard not to cry. This little girl…this helpless little girl… _

_"Where are we going?" She asked. NO! She thought to herself. Please, don't really be awake! _

_"Please, go back to sleep." She said, kissing her forehead. _

_"I'm not tired anymore." It was too hard to fight. Tears streamed down her cheeks. _

_"Are you crying?" She shook her head. _

_The elevator stopped at level 28. She turned on a flashlight and walked into the dark empty room. She then reached a large metal door, and turned the handle. It was almost as heavy as her heart. She turned on the light, and they walked in. She led Cassie to the wall. "Sit down here and rest for awhile, okay? I have to go." _

_"You promised you'd never leave me alone." The little girl said with solemnity. _

_"I'll come back, okay? I'll be back." Cassie nodded. "You're very brave, remember?" Another nod. _

_"I'm very brave." She said, almost to reassure herself. _

_"I have to close the door." The little girl nodded, trusting with every fiber of her being that she would return. And she wished was that she really could return. She was still crying as they took one last look at each other, and she shut the heavy door, spinning the wheel to lock it. _

_"Sam? Sam?" _

_She ran into the elevator, giant sobs racking her body. She started slamming her fists against the walls and kicking it. Finally, she sat in the corner, allowing herself to grieve. The tears don't stop, but they stop coming in such high volumes. _

_I couldn't protect her, is the only thought that came to her mind. Suddenly, she realized something. She woke up! She pressed the button on the elevator and went back down to the little girl. _

_As she walked into the room, she heard his voice. "Sam, do you read me?" _

_She walked over to the intercom. "Colonel, I'm staying." _

_"Negative." _

_"Colonel, she's awake." _

_"Oh god!" _

_"Captain Carter, I am ordering you to get back up here, right now." She finished locking the door as she heard his voice. "Right now!" _

_Defiantly, she walked swiftly over and gave Cassie a hug. "Are we going to die?" _

_"No, we are not going to die." She said, firmly. _

"Hi, I'm Dr. Miller."

"I'm Grace Carter. It's nice to meet you." She said, accepting the hand held out in greeting.

Why today? She asked herself. She had always had flashes of memories, but…why today when she had to make a good impression?

"And you. I hear you've made quite a name for yourself in the field of Quantum Physics. Good for you."

"Thank you."

"So…the works, Daniel?" She asked, before beginning the examination.

He nodded and then discreetly motioned for her to speak with him privately.

"Exam #3 is open. There's a gown and everything." She said, to the eighteen year old.

"Thank you."

As she left, Cassandra walked over to Daniel. "What?"

"I need you to run a DNA test. I have a hunch, but I don't want to say anything until I'm absolutely positive."

She looked at him, confused. "What is it?"

"I don't want to influence the test results." He turned, "Can you have them on my desk by tomorrow morning?"

"I could have them on your desk in an hour." She said in all seriousness.

"I'd appreciate it."

"Sure."


	4. Chapter 3: The Lab

There was a knock on the door. Daniel looked up from his laptop to find Cassandra standing in his doorway, a manila folder in her hands.

"Come in." He greeted as she took a few steps forwars.

"I have the results of the test and her physical."

"And?"

She handed the file to him. He opened it and closed it. "She's their daughter, isn't she?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He closed his eyes as he sat down in his chair. "And she didn't tell him…"

"That…that I don't know."

He grimaced and sat back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose, trying to ward off the oncoming headache. "No wonder she ran away."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"Daniel, Jack wouldn't have…"

Someone ran up the stairs from the control room and both turned. It was Grace.

"I'll be in the infirmary if you need me." She said, quickly, as she turned to leave.

"Thanks." He called after her.

He walked into the briefing room. "Hey!"

"Hi. I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No. Dr. Miller just handed me the results of your physical. Neither of us find any reason you can't begin work with the Program."

Other than the fact that Jack will kill me when he finds out I just hired his daughter, Daniel reasoned.

"That's great!" She said, a rare sense of excitement displaying on her face.

For a moment, Daniel forgot the issues surrounding her lineage, but began wondering what had made his eighteen-year-old girl so…grown-up. Looking not only at her intellect and her wardrobe, one would believe that she had seen bitter disappointment and strife, as if haunting nightmares of that past were normal. And, for a moment, Daniel wondered if her 'daydreaming' hadn't been just a glorified cover-up for her flashbacks.

"Was there something that you needed?" He asked, remembering that it had been she that had initiated this impromptu meeting rather than he.

"Oh…no…I was just…when can I move into my lab?"

"Uh…anytime."

"Great."

She turned to leave, but stopped. "It was my mother's lab, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "How'd you guess?"

"Everything was where I would have put it, and people say that I favor her." There was an awkward pause before she continued. "Hasn't anyone used it since she left?"

"People tried but…" He stopped unable to bring himself to blame only Jack for the mini-shrine that Sam's lab had become. "Your mother was very respected around here. I guess we all kind of waited for her to come back."

She chewed on this for a moment, looking at the floor before she allowed her eyes to connect with Daniel's again. "So you hired me." She said, simply.

"No!" Daniel said, quickly, still surprised that she would say something like that. It was as if this girl had inherited all of Jack's cynicism as well as Sam's brilliance. "That's…we would never…"

But truth be told, Daniel HAD thought about how similarly brilliant she was to Sam. That was one of the reasons he had offered her the job. They had seriously lacked the leadership she had demonstrated in scientists since her departure, and to find an eighteen-year-old who could order people two and three times her age with efficiency and diplomacy had been exciting to him.

"It's true," he admitted. "I looked for you because you are very similar to your mother, but…I didn't hire you to replace your mother. You are different people and I expect to find some similarities, but I expect to find a great many differences."

She nodded. "Thank you. May I be dismissed, then?"

He nodded. "If you need anything, let me know, okay?"

She gave a tight smile as she descended down the stairs.

She walked into her lab and almost froze as the flashback washed over her.

_She was studying one of those replicator block thingies…studying a lot, and he thought she was cute. But…he really thought she was cute when she smiled, so…it was time to do something stupidly cute to get her to smile. He walked up and placed his face underneath the magnifying glass that she had been using to study the blocks. Sure enough, she smiled. "What ya doin'?"_

"_They salvaged a couple of replicator pieces from the ocean, I thought I'd take a look."_

_He stood up. "Is that…wise?"_

"_Well, there's no discernable energy being emitted. I think it's pretty safe to say they're dead. Besides, it's only just a couple of little blocks."_

_He raised his eyebrows, acknowledging that she had her hobbies and he had his. " Well, I'm off."_

"_Still going fishing?" She asked with a smile._

"_Yep." He grinned as he remembered her reaction the last time he'd asked her the next question. "Still staying here?"_

"_Yeah. I think I've had enough relaxation for a while, sir."_

"_OK!" He said, leaving, a definite saunter in his step._

"_Have fun."_

"_Ya Sure Ya Betcha!"_

She took a deep breath and stepped inside. As she reached the old computer on the desk, she had another flashback.

_Janet brought her a cup of coffee._ _"You working through the night again?"_

_"Yeah, Lot of work to do...thank you."_

_"Look Sam, there's no doubt you are going to solve this, but you have to accept the fact it's going to take time." She said, trying to help her see reason._

_"Yeah, well, if I think that way, it could take months." She said, trying to keep her emotions at bay. In fact, the only time that her thoughts didn't paralyze her with thoughts of what might have been or what still could be was when she was working on getting him home._

_"Daniel says the Tollan could have a ship in the vicinity of Edora some time early next year." _

_She took a deep breath, still calculating the complex equations that were required for the creation of the device. "He shouldn't have to wait that long."_

_"You miss him."_

_That statement scared the hell out of her. Had she really been that transparent? "Yeah." She admitted._

_"Is this a problem?"_

_Her heart pounded. Yes, it was a problem. It was a HUGE problem. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with her COMMANDING OFFICER. "No, No...Of course not."_

_"Okay...good night." Janet said, somewhat skeptically._

_"Good night."_

She clenched her jaw, trying to ward off the tears that were threatening to spill. After all of that work, after all of that time, he had chosen Laira. And why shouldn't he have? After all she was…

She was not Major Samantha Carter. She was not in love with her commanding officer. That had been her mother's life. It was not hers. And as she began her tenure with the Stargate Program, she had to remember that.

She closed her eyes almost in desperation. How was someone supposed to live like this? Never knowing a father, but knowing the man who had fathered you…as intimately as your mother had known him.And while knowing your mother, seeing her from the perspective of your father! Yes, she was brilliant, but she didn't need a psychiatrist to figure out that she was slowly losing her mind. Conflicting emotions, passions, and intellect battled within her daily. It was a small consolation that she had been able to ease the life of millions with the knowledge she had gained on the day of conception.

_The candles, the silk sheets...The raw animal instinct, the indescribably withheld passion, and the relentless knowledge of wrong-doing._

She placed one hand overhermouth andraced down the hallway. She emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, wiping the contents of her stomach from her mouth.


	5. Chapter 4: The Tok'ra

She followed the airman down the halls of the complex, not about to let anyone know how intimately acquainted with these corridors she was. They turned a corner, and it was as if she could see her father walking out of the room that the alternate Samantha had been in.

"_Sir. General Hammond told me the news. I took the liberty of informing Major Kawalsky."_

"_Thank you…I was just on my way to do that." He said, obviously drained. She was curious to know what had exhausted his energy so much. She'd never seen him look so…old._

"_I thought I'd drop in on, uh…Samantha…see how she's doing." She said, sensing that what bothered him had something to do with her alternate._

"_She's fine. I think she'd rather be left alone at the moment. You should stop in tomorrow."_

"_Oh." She exclaimed softly. She had been right…something had transpired between Colonel O'Neill and her alternate self. "All right. Good night, sir." She finished, turning to leave._

"_Carter?" She turned back toward him._

"_Yes, sir?"_

"_How're you doing with this twin thing?"_

"_D'ya have a couple of hours?" She said with a half-hearted chuckle. There were so many things about this that stood her hair on end…no pun intended, she thought as she recalled the length of the alternate Samantha Carter's hair._

"_Okay…" He said, clearly tapping into his deepest reserves of emotional energy to get ready to listen to her deepest darkest secrets._

"_That was the answer." She said, now intensely curious to find out just what the other Samantha could have said to him that had him so…vulnerable._

"_Oh…"_

"_Good night, sir." She said with a smile, brushing the exchange from her mind._

"_Good night, Major." He whispered as he went the other way._

Grace walked into her new quarters. Sure enough, she recognized the room as one of the old VIP suites. "Thank you, airman." She said to the woman who had shown her to her room.

"You're welcome, Ma'am."

As the door closed, she looked over at the bed. Suddenly, she could see an alternate version of her mother, laying on her stomach, looking at a picture that adorned the nightstand.

"_Just put it put it on the table and close the door on your way out."_

"_I'm sorry, put what on the table?" He asked, walking in._

"_Jack. I'm sorry…come in. Your, uh, your Dr. Fraiser keeps insisting that I eat something."_

"_Ah…well, she's your Doc Fraiser now too…You're in. They said yes."_

"_That's good."_

"_Yeah, I can see you're overjoyed."_

"_I just never expected this…it's…it's so hard."_

"_Uh, look, I can't even begin to know what you've been through…I, uh…I know you've lost a lot, but…"_

"_I lost you. I watched you die, Jack. Three days ago, trying to defend the Mountain. And here you are, alive and safe in this perfect world…and you don't even know me."_

"_Well, I…I sort of know you."_

"_You know her…but you don't even see her that way, do you?" She looked at the photo lying unceremoniously on the nightstand, and he followed her gaze. She wore a white gown, his arms were around her, there were flowers in her hair and in her hands, and there were foolishly happy grins on both of their faces._

"_I take it where you're from, we were…"_

"_Married." She said, tears streaming down her cheeks._

"_Ah." He said, feeling immensely under qualified for this task._

"_This makes you uncomfortable…"_

"_No…no…not at all…I just…I get confused…"_

Grace bit her lip. At the rate she was having flashbacks, she would be fired by next week. She couldn't concentrate on her work. And while she knew Daniel wouldn't want to take any action, she knew that after a while, his superiors would demand it.

There was a quick knock at the door. "It's open." She called.

Daniel opened the door and she turned. "Hi."

"Hey, I, uh…I had some information for you."

She looked at him, somewhat surprised that this information had triggered a personal visit from the base director.

"I would have e-mailed it, but you don't have a base e-mail account yet."

She nodded.

"SG-1 is going with SG-6 to the Tok'ra homeworld in a week. I thought you might want to tag along."

She tried to smile confidently. "Sure."

"By then, we should have some BDUs all ready for you."

She nodded. "Is there a certain objective that I should keep in mind during my preparation for the trip?"

"We'll debrief on that at a later time. I'll be sending a memo in addition to an e-mail, which should be set up for you by tomorrow, by the way…so…"

"Thanks."

He studied her. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." She said, smiling a tight smile.

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Okay, you need anything…"

"I'll call." She said, as swiftly as her mother once had.

Daniel nodded. "Well…good night."


	6. Chapter 5: Meeting

Jack O'Neill sat at his desk, staring at a couple of sheets of paper. All three were from the extensive confidentiality agreement that SGC personnel had to sign. All three were pulled from the same file of Dr. Grace Jacklyn Carter. And all three had different signatures.

The first had been a clear, straightforward, contemporary cursive. It had shown up in the document the most frequently. But three times, he had run into a similar handwriting that had a definite slant with more prominent curly-cues, and looked remarkably like Samantha Carter's handwriting. The last frightened him above all. It had shown up once in the document- the hastily scribbled print that was almost identical to his own.

He sighed and picked up the phone. He pressed '1' on the speed dial and waited.

"Daniel Jackson."

"Daniel. It's me."

"jack! How're you?"

"I'm fine, but the security on your base seems to be a little lax."

"What makes you say that?"

"In the last week, you seem to have hired not one, but three new scientists, all with the same name."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have three sheets from the confidentiality agreement that Dr. Carter signed. And each one features a prominent signature that looks distinctly different from its predecessor."

"What?"

"Well, one looks…normal. It's the most commonly used."

"The other two have me worried, however…they seem to be in Carter's and my handwriting."

"Well, that's weird."

"Tell me about it."

Daniel thought for a moment. "Jack…what happened eighteen years ago? Why did Sam leave?"

"Daniel, I've told you before…I don't…now what the hell does that have to with this?"

"Trust me. I know there's something that you're not telling me."

"If I didn't tell you then, it was because it was none of your damned business!"

"Jack! Whatever happened eighteen years ago is affecting the way my base is operating. I believe it is my business! AND…I haven't seen the woman who was like my little sister for over eighteen years! I have a right to know what happened!"

"What are you saying, Daniel?" Jack asked, his voice deadly silent, indicating that he had picked up on the hint that Daniel had thrown his way.

"Grace Jacklyn Carter is Samantha Carter's daughter."

His breath caught. He had suspected that her sudden departure had been somehow connected to their time as Tok'ra hosts, but…

"_Colonel, you don't remember anything about the last six weeks?"_

_Jack looked at the doctor. "Six weeks?"_

"_You were blended with a Tok'ra symbiote. You were about to die."_

"_I got a SNAKE in my head? What was I on?"_

"_A fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit."_

"_Oh."_

"_You and Major Carter were sent to the Tok'ra. If I understand correctly, you were both sent undercover."_

_He choked. "Together?"_

_Janet looked at him, somewhat concerned. "I don't know."_

"Jack, the tests that Cassie ran during Grace's physical verified that Grace is your daughter as well."

"I'll be there in two and a half hours." He said, standing.

"Jack…"

There was no answer as Jack O'Neill had hung up the phone and was racing out the door.

"Damn!" The archaeologist said as he hung up his end of the phone.

--

Jack O'Neill hurried down the halls of level 27 of the Cheyenne Mountain complex. A flurry of salutes greeted him, but he could barely see anything but red. She had borne his child with no indication to him of his parenthood.

He scarcely registered that he was at the SGC and after what seemed to be no time, Jack arrived at Daniel's office door.

"Jack!"

"Where is she?"

"Jack, I think you need to calm down. She's…well, she's not what you'd expect."

"Daniel! She's my daughter!"

"I know." Daniel said, his clam voice in direct contrast to Jack's ranting voice. "But since I was there when she signed all of those papers, and can verify that she's passed our physical and psychological evaluations, I can tell you that she's obviously dealing with something."

"Daniel, she's eighteen. She shouldn't have to have the weight of the world on her shoulders!"

There was a timid knock on the door as Grace walked into view. "I'm sorry." She said, turning as if to leave.

"No. Grace…" Daniel said, leaving his desk and hurrying toward the door.

She stopped. "Yes?"

He led her into the room. "I have someone I'd like you to meet: General Jack O'Neill."

Grace took one look at the face of her father and collapsed.


	7. Chapter 6: Flashbacks

Samantha Carter sat at her laptop, typing up the syllabus for her college physics class. Her cell phone rang. "This is Dr. Carter." She said, placing the tiny phone in the crook between her neck and shoulder.

"Carter, it's me."

She froze. "Sir?"

"Carter, it's been eighteen years. You can lose the sir."

"How'd you get this number?" She demanded.

"Is it really that upsetting to hear from me?" He retorted with an equal amount of strength.

There was silence on the other line.

"I got the number from our new scientist's file."

"And who's that?" She whispered, almost afraid to find out for more reasons than one.

"Well, you oughta know her real well…Dr. Grace Jacklyn Carter."

"Grace?" She asked, her heart leaping into her throat. "What happened? Where is she?"

"She's fine." He said, seriously. "She collapsed, but Cassie says she's going to be fine."

"Cassie?"

"Yeah, she's the new CMO."

"Wow."

"Except that she's a civilian, not an officer."

"Are you sure Grace is okay?"

"Yes. I was there while she was unconscious…although I'm not sure that helped."

"Why?"

"She fainted when she saw me."

Sam's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh!" She grabbed her keys. "Is she at Cheyenne Mountain?"

"Yes…but she's…"

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Sam!" Jack said as the line went dead.

--

"_Rek'tar, Kanan." The speaker of the Tok'ra High Council began. "Your mission is unlike any we have ever assigned before."_

_They bowed. "What would you have in mind?" Kanan asked before looking at the blonde haired woman standing to his left._

"_We have an interesting dilemma forced upon us by your hosts. The Tau'ri require that the hosts be returned to them as soon as more permanent hosts can be found for you both."_

"_We fear that we may lose valuable information if something were to go wrong during the transfer." Another Tok'ra spoke up._

"_What would you have us do?" Rek'tar asked, unsure of what options the High Council would be considering._

"_We wish the hosts to procreate."_

_Both Tok'ra's eyes widened. "That would make the child harsesis."_

"_That is forbidden!"_

"_It may be our only hope."_

Jack rubbed his temples. This was getting more and more complicated as the day wore on. Samantha Carter hid his daughter from him, Grace Carter fainted at the sight of him, and now…Samantha Carter was coming back…

"_Jack! What are you doing here?"_

_Kanan turned, flashing his eyes to indicate his presence within the host. "Selmak! It is I, Kanan."_

"_Kanan?" Selmak asked. "It was my understanding that Colonel O'Neill vowed never to blend with a symbiote."_

"_He was gravely ill and sought a temporary blending for his health. As did Major carter."_

"_Sam's here?"_

"_Not any longer. Her symbiote was transferred four days ago."_

"_When did she get sick?" Jacob asked, curiously._

"_Four weeks ago."_

"_Why the haste?"_

"_She was with child."_

"_WHAT?"_

"Jack…"

"What?" He asked, turning to find Daniel standing behind him.

"Are you going to sleep at all before she gets here?"

"Are you kidding?"

"No, Jack, I'm not. Sam's gonna get here, and she's going to be tired. We don't need the first time you two have seen each other in eighteen years to be a time when both of you are being unreasonable because you're both tired."

Jack nodded, absently. He walked down to one of the VIP suites. He opened the door and walked into the empty room. Flashes of Kanan and Rek'tar's steamy affair overwhelmed him as he entered.

Three weeks of being suppressed while his body fulfilled his most chronic fantasy. Eighteen years of undeserved punishment for pleasure his symbiote had extracted. A daughter stolen from him like Charlie had been stolen away.

"_Jack…" She moaned._

_He nuzzled into her neck, kissing her naked flesh. "Samantha…"_

_Her eyes flew open. "No…we can't…STOP!"_

_He was about to comply as Kanan and Rek'tar took over. "No, we can't stop." Rek'tar said as Kanan resumed his caresses._

Jack rubbed his eyes. It was going to be a long night.


	8. Chapter 7: The Long Awaited Fallout

"Dr. Jackson? There's a Samantha Carter here, saying that she has clearance to be here."

"Let her down to my office." Daniel said, taking a deep breath.

"Sir?"

"You heard me."

"Okay. Should we send an escort with her?"

"Sure…but even if you don't, she'll be fine. She was one of the original members of SG-1."

Daniel could only imagine the shocked look on the airman's face. It was the same look he'd gotten every time he went down to the archaeology labs. It was still hard for him to believe that he, along with the rest of his teammates, was a living legend. Of course, it had been that way almost since he had returned from Abydos…

He forced the thought of the Abydonians and Sha're from his mind. Even nearly thirty years after that first trip through the Gate, he still felt deep feelings for the place, and a twinge of sadness passed over him.

But right now was not a time for his own sadness. He was dealing with Sam and Jack's past. And somehow, it had deeply affected their daughter.

"Daniel!" Sam greeted, a tense smile on her face.

"Sam!" He said, giving her a hug without a second thought.

She pulled away, a worried look on her face. "Where's Grace?"

"In the infirmary."

"Can I go…?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks."

--

They arrived into the infirmary to see Grace doodling on a pad, trying to forget everything that was going through her head. She was filled with mixed emotions about this room. She was in an isolation room because of her nightmares. Visions of her mother lying lifeless on the bed and her father's feelings of guilt and hopelessness as well as his flashbacks to Charlie's death running over her.

The image shifted and now, she could feel her mother's panic as she struggled to get into this very room. _"Carter, what's up?"_

"_Can we have a moment alone, please?" She asked, pleading Teal'c with her eyes to clear the room. He nodded and did so._

"_Carter, undo this." As she did so, with trembling fingers, he looked up at her. "What's going on?"_

"_We're not za'tarcs." She said, almost hoping that would be all that she had to say._

"_How do you know?"_

"_The machine thinks we have false memories, but we don't. We were lying."_

"_I wasn't lying."_

_Have patience, she reminded herself. "Okay, you were leaving something out."_

"_No, I didn't."_

"_Sir, when you wouldn't leave me, are you sure there wasn't something else that you're not admitting?"_

"_What are you talkin' about?"_

"_Something neither one of us can admit, given our working relationship, our military ranks..." She said, trying to help him get a clue without having to say anything out right._

"_Oh!" He exclaimed softly before sobering. "Oh, that."_

"_Sir, we weren't telling the whole truth, and that's why the machine thinks the memories are false."_

"_Really?"_

Sam approached the bed, carefully. "Grace, honey…it's me."

"We lied…we didn't know we were lying!"

Sam tensed. "Honey, you're dreaming."

Daniel looked at Sam, confused. She shook her head, indicating that she wasn't ready to discuss the situation.

Grace's eyes fluttered open. "Mom? What are you doing here?"

"They called me because they were worried about you."

She looked confused at Daniel for a moment and then back at her mom. "Really?"

Sam nodded as Jack O'Neill walked into the room. Grace stiffened, forcing Daniel and Sam to look behind them. Sam stiffened as well, and she stood. "Sir…may I speak to you in the hall for a moment?"

"You're the mother of my daughter, you're going to call me sir?"

All the activity in the isolation room stopped for a moment. Sam looked down at the ground, collecting her wits. "I would rather not discuss this in this public place."

"Where the hell would you like to discuss it, Sam? Eighteen years…eighteen YEARS stolen from me!"

"STOP IT!" Grace screamed, grabbing her hair. "STOP FIGHTING! I know it's my fault, but…"

The beeping of the heart monitor accelerated until Grace collapsed, at which point she flatlined. "No…" Sam and Jack breathed at the same time.


	9. Chapter 8: Harsesis

Dr. Cassandra Fraiser-Miller hurried over and began compressions. "Get a crash cart! STAT!"

Jack stared at the bed, seemingly paralyzed. First Charlie, now Grace…

He wouldn't be able to handle this a second time.

"I need fifty milligrams of epi!" The doctor ordered.

Sam swallowed tears. She hadn't cried since she'd found out she was pregnant with Grace. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd only listened to me." She muttered, bitterly.

"What was that?" Jack asked, turning, startled out of his thoughts.

"I said that this wouldn't have happened if you'd only listened to me." She repeated, slowly and clearly.

"That was out of line!"

"Was it, JACK?"

"Get out of my infirmary." Cassandra ordered as she rubbed the paddles of the defibrillator together.

"What?" They both asked.

"NOW." She said, pressing the paddles to the young woman's chest. "Thirty joules."

The shock rippled through her body.

"Again." She ordered when there was no response.

"Why the hell is it MY fault? I wouldn't have reacted that way if you hadn't kept her from me!"

"Excuse me? Did you WANT the NID and the Tok'ra after her? Not to mention who knows who else would want her!"

Daniel hurried into the Isolation room. "What's going on?"

"Those two need to be escorted to a place where they can discuss things." Cassandra informed him as she administered yet another pulse of energy to Grace.

Daniel motioned to the SFs as he gave his friends a steely gaze. "You heard the doctor. Now, you can go to a VIP room on your own, or you can be escorted. It's your choice."

"But-" Sam began.

"Carter, I got this…Daniel, I'm your commanding officer…you can't order me anywhere."

"I'm not in the military, Jack. You, yourself, assigned me with autonomy as the civilian director the program. Now, get yourselves to a VIP room or I will be forced to take action that we all will regret."

Somewhere during the conversation, Grace's heartbeat had returned, and Cassandra joined them. "You are upsetting my patient. You are not to come into this isolation room without my express permission." She said, her heart heavy, but a certain amount of fierceness in her voice that reminded both Sam and Jack of her mother.

"But I'm her…" Sam began.

"Sam, please." Cassandra pleaded, an almost little girl look on her face.

"Okay." She said, tensing for a moment as she took a deep breath.

--

They walked to his VIP suite in silence. The SFs had been sent along, despite Daniel's insinuation that this was optional. Sam walked into the room first, and Jack looked at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You made it clear that you want to talk. So…let's talk." She deadpanned.

"In my quarters?"

"As I recall, these are VIP quarters." She said, a steely gaze in her eyes that he hadn't seen since she had met him in the briefing room twenty-five years ago.

"Whatever." He muttered as he shooed away the SFs.

He closed the door and turned back to the woman who still held his heart. "So…let's talk."

"Jack, I did what I had to do."

"Right…"

"I'm serious."

"Sam, I don't want stupid excuses…I want the truth. And if was that you were scared…so be it."

"I WAS scared." She defended. "But not because of you."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay…maybe I was afraid because of you, but that wasn't the biggest thing I was afraid of…"

"The Tok'ra."

"And NID." She admitted.

"You haven't seen your dad in eighteen years."

She nodded. "I know."

"In fact, you had a completely new life after Grace."

"I had to." She whispered.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Sam, the SGC could have protected you."

"Really? They could have protected me…the way they protected Daniel from the Kelownans?"

"That was his choice."

"Like hell it was!" She retorted. "And how the hell is he back anyway?" She demanded, so full of conflicting emotions that she could hardly keep her composure.

"Something about a higher plane of existence and rules and breaking them…don't ask."

"And where's Teal'c?"

"Jaffa leadership."

"Janet?"

"Died on an expedition to Atlantis. Daniel came back almost immediately."

She raised her eyebrows. "Janet and Daniel?"

"Yep."

"General Hammond?" She asked, grateful that he hadn't seen through her ploy.

"Stop changing the subject."

Damn, he'd caught her.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You knew."

"Yes. But that didn't mean that I could find you."

"Please, Jack. I wasn't THAT well-hidden. Barrett found me when I was six months pregnant."

"HE WHAT?"

"Of course, when I asked him not to tell anyone that he'd seen me, he cooperated."

"BARRETT KNEW WHERE YOU WERE!" He thundered.

"He kept the NID off my trail, Jack."

"He kept ME off your trail, Samantha! Damn it! Why didn't he tell me where you were!"

"Because you would have told Daniel who would have told Teal'c, and pretty soon, whether you liked it or not, the whole SGC would know. And we've had problems with moles in the past!"

"We're capable of keeping secrets!"

"Jack…please…"

"Don't you dare!" He roared, eyes blazing. "I have gone through hell for the last eighteen years knowing that somewhere you had given birth to my kid…I didn't know who he or she was…I didn't know where you were, and I was driving myself slowly insane by trying to find you. Barrett was one of my last resorts…and since I sent Maybourne to another PLANET, I couldn't find you through him. He at least, didn't have ulterior motives…"

"You think Malcolm had ulterior motives!"

"MALCOLM!"

"You want the truth, Jack!" She thundered, her voice reaching Jack's same level. "I haven't slept with anyone since Rek'tar slept with Kanan!" She spat.

"You don't always have to sleep with someone for them to get protective…YOU should know that!"

"And he was there when I needed him!"

"And I'd have been there even if you didn't need me!" He thundered, his chest heaving in his need for breath. "With or without Grace!"

She sat on the bed, defeated. "I know."

--

She had seen a light…she had walked toward it. She wanted to die. Didn't they understand? She couldn't live like this. If anyone would have understood, it should have been her mother. Well, it was obvious that the remnants of Rek'tar within her mother had been too powerful for her to combat. It was time for her to give herself up to the Tok'ra. SG-1 and SG-6 were leaving today. She thought for a moment. She tapped into her powerful immune system, and achieved a level of meditation almost reminiscent of kelnoreem. She would need all the strength that she had. However, as she communed with the Tok'ra part of herself, she had flashes of five lives pass through the invisible barrier between her subconscious and her conscious. She steeled herself against the wave. It would only get worse, and there would be no getting better.

--

"Colonel, you have a go."

The leader of SG-1 nodded. "Thank you, sir."

They stood up from the debriefing when the Colonel turned back to the director. "Sir, is Dr. Carter accompanying us on this mission?"

Daniel shook his head. "She's not well at the moment."

"I see."

"She may be able to join you for your follow-up."

Colonel Mark Hammond nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Now, go get suited up."

"Daniel?"

He turned to find Cassandra standing at the door.

"Cass. What's going on with Grace?"

"She's still in a coma. We're doing everything we can."

"I know you are. And Jack and Sam?"

"I checked in on them…or rather I passed by their room. They're still having a bit of screaming match, but…what else do you expect? They have been keeping some pretty big secrets from one another, and…well, they both have type A personalities."

He nodded.

"But the SFs said that it seemed to be getting more productive."

"Good."

"Have you told Teal'c?"

"He'll be here tomorrow for the negotiations. I did tell him that Sam was back, and he said it would be good to see her again, but…other than that…"

"Yeah, it's a tricky situation…"

"But I called Jacob."

"Is he coming?"

"He'll be returning with SG teams 1 and 6 at the conclusion of their negotiations."

"That'll be an interesting reunion."

"This whole reunion is an interesting one." Daniel said, walking into his office. "Do you have any idea what made Grace lose it like that?"

"No, I don't."

"Something makes me uncomfortable about her…"

"Like the fact that she's eighteen and working for the SGC."

"She's Sam and Jack's daughter." He pointed out.

"True, but…honestly…"

"I know…"

The intercom on his desk flashed. "Dr. Jackson?"

"Yes, airman?"

"Dr. Carter has escaped."

"Escaped?" He asked, surprised at the airman's choice of words.

"She attacked the SFs. We believe that she's on her way up to the Gate Room."

"We'll be there in a moment." Daniel said, glancing up at Cassandra's pale face.

--

"Excuse me? What do you mean 'you know?'" Jack asked, surprised.

"Jack, just because I was in denial doesn't mean that I'm stupid! I thought you knew me better than that."

"I thought you had more dignity than to run off and keep something this monumental from me!"

"Well, you were wrong." She whispered.

He couldn't bear to see her like this. "Sam…I'm sorry…I just…this is a shock."

"She's harsesis." She cut in.

"I know."

"You may know, but you don't understand."

"What do you mean?"

"She's…she's had nightmares…it scares me more than the thought of…well, a lot of things."

"What kind of nightmares?" He asked, sitting next to her on the bed, and tenderly placing his arm around her shoulder.

She swallowed. "Well, she has my memories, and I would bet that she has your memories…"

Jack closed his eyes. If that was true, then he knew exactly what nightmares she would have.

"The first one I remember was when she was three. She was terrified. She wouldn't let me touch her…she just held herself, rocking back and forth, tears streaming down her cheeks." Sam said, her voice starting to hitch with emotion.

"C'mere." He said, guiding her head to his shoulder.

"I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. Then, when she described what the men were doing to her…" She started sobbing, and then swallowed her tears. "She described what happened when I was sold…"

He took a deep breath. Samantha should never have gone through that, and it should never have been passed to a three-year-old. "Jack, she looked so helpless, and yet…she looked so grown-up." She allowed more tears to flow. "She should never have had to experience that."

He put his finger under her downward tilted chin. "YOU should never have had to experience that."

She nodded. "Thanks."

They both looked at one another, paling in fear as they heard the base intercom system. "Emergency in the Embarkation Room! Emergency in the Embarkation Room!"

--

She walked down the corridors armed with a gun and a zatnik'tel. However, her first choice of defense was hand-to-hand. The airmen piled up behind her, leaving a rather noticeable trail to the infirmary. She wasn't just some geek to be made fun of. She was at least a level three hand-to-hand…

She reached the Gate Room to be greeted by SG-1 and SG-6.

"Dr. Carter." Colonel Hammond said, stepping toward her, slowly.

Mercilessly, she pointed the gun and shot. The bullet-proof vest protected him from a fatal shot, but it did nothing to stop the bullet that took a chunk out of his arm. The kinetic energy forced him backwards, where he hit his head against the concrete of the Gate room walls.

She turned on the other members of the expedition. "Let me through the Stargate." She ordered with all the arrogance and determination of Jolinar.

"We can't let you do that." Daniel said, walking into the room.

She pointed the gun at him. "Don't make me shoot you."

"You don't want to do that."

She pulled the trigger, and for a moment, he braced himself for the impact of the bullet, but it never came. The click indicated that the small handgun was out of ammunition.

"Grace."

She tossed the gun to the side and pulled out the zatnik'tel. "You are aware that two shots from this weapon kills."

"Yes."

"Take another step and I will shoot you dead."

"Grace, I know you don't want to do this."

Suddenly, as she stared at Daniel, she could feel the room transform into one of the hallways in the SGC. Her lip started to quiver as she saw her mother stand before her, mirroring her own look of determination.

_He'd already zatted her once…twice would kill her, wouldn't it? Yes, they were dealing with a computer inside her body, but…there wouldn't be any hope for Carter, would there?_

_Was there any hope for her even if he didn't zat her?_

_This was a damned computer virus! If he didn't zat Carter again, it would take over the base computer again…_

"Please." She whimpered, whispering her father's heartfelt pleas from that day. "Don't make me do it."

"Grace. It's just me." He said, approaching her cautiously.

"DANIEL GET OUT OF THE WAY!" She screamed, firing the zat gun with her eyes closed.

It narrowly missed the archaeologist/director, hitting one of the Marines on SG-6.

"I have to get to the Tok'ra."

"Well, they're our allies, and we're not going to send anyone this out of control to them…no matter what you say."

"I'm only this way because they made me this way." She spat.

"What do you mean?" He asked, taking advantage of her incense. He took away her defense and she swung at him. He countered the attack, and she sank back from him, crawling on the ramp in fear.

"Please…please don't hurt me."

"Nobody's going to hurt you." He said, soothingly as he handed the zat to another airman.

"Nobody means to…but they do anyway!" She said, almost childlike.

"Why do you say that?"

"They say things…that I'm crazy…that's I'm not right."

"Grace, you're remarkably intelligent, and you're amazing. You're very, very special."

Her lip quivered. "That's why I'm crazy. That's why I'm not right. I'm not even really human."

"That's not true, Grace."

The blast doors opened to reveal both Sam and Jack hurrying into the room. "Grace!" Sam called.

"Tell him!" She demanded.

"Tell who what?" She asked, trying to be as non-threatening as Daniel had tried to be.

"Tell him what I am!"

"Grace, you're my daughter."

"No…Tell him what they had planned for me."

Sam looked at Jack, and they both gulped. This was exactly what they had been trying to avoid for more than eighteen years.

"Sam, what's she talking about?"

"I don't know."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" She yelled, standing up suddenly, and knocking Daniel to the ground from her sudden right hook in a sudden burst of inhuman energy. She quickly reached her mother, and forced her into a tight offensive stance. Jack's heart constricted as he realized that his daughter had just taken the woman of his dreams as a hostage.

"Grace. We know you're a harsesis."

"She's a WHAT?" Daniel asked, surprised as he stood, wiping his bloody nose.

"She's a Tok'ra Harsesis. This was the mission that they asked us to perform when we were hosts."

She looked at her father, and a conflicting rage of emotions overcame her. She released her mother as she sank to the ground. Jack quickly ran over, placing one hand on Sam's shoulder to deduce whether or not she was all right as she gasped for air. She nodded and he hurried over to his daughter's side.

"You don't understand!" She whimpered.

"Don't understand what? Being taken advantage of?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"You don't understand what I'm feeling. I…nobody should have to live like this." She handed him the gun that had fallen after she shot Colonel Hammond. "Please…just…end this."

"Grace, you know I can't do that."

She sobbed. "Because of Charlie."

Wordlessly, he nodded.

"But…I don't belong here." She continued.

"Yes, you do. Your mother loves you. And I'd like to get to know you."

"YOU CAN'T!" She screamed.

"Why not?"

"Because you would never see me like that…I…I don't even know you as my dad…you're always going to be Jack to me…"

His eyebrows raised in surprise. "What?"

"I can't look at my father and have these feelings." She said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please…you would ask someone to do this if it were you."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Yes. You would. I know you better than anyone else knows you."

"Grace…" Daniel began. "There's something else we can do."

"No, there isn't."

"Yes, there is. We can make you forget."

"How?" She asked, looking at him, a glimmer of hope shining in her eyes.

"At least we can try."

"What is it?"

"Do you remember dargall?"

She nodded.

"It should make you forget."

"You made Kira forget that she was Linnea." She remembered.

"Yes, we did. And we could try to make you forget what you are."

"Harsesis."

"Yes."

"But what if the Tok'ra come back?"

"They don't know that we have a cure for it."

"I don't want a cure. If I do this, I don't want anything to happen that could possibly 'fix' this."

"We'll destroy the records, then…we don't have to keep it on file."

"You're not going to get in trouble?"

"Trust me, I don't think my boss is going to mind as long as you're alive." Daniel said, eyeing Jack for a visual confirmation. Jack nodded his head in reluctant permission.

"Okay."

"What?" Sam asked, finally recovering from her brush with death at the hands of her daughter. "You're just going to let them do this?"

"Sam, what other choice do we have? We can't let her live like this."

"But…"

"But what? You'd rather have the NID and the Tokr'a and who knows else come after her because of the information she possesses?" Jack countered.

Sam swallowed and then looked at her daughter's more hopeful state. She'd never looked hopeful before. Only sad, disheartened, depressed, and borderline psychotic.

"No."

"Then, it's settled." Daniel said, rising to his feet and offering Grace his hand.

She took a deep breath as she took his hand and followed suit.


	10. Chapter 9: Father Daughter Reunions

The procedure had gone smoothly, and Sam sat next to her daughter's bed, awaiting her arousal from the sedatives given to her to ensure her cooperation.

"She looks like you."

Sam didn't look up, but could sense Jack's presence. "Actually, she looks like you."

"Me?"

She nodded. "She has your hair…your smile. And at times, she can have your sense of humor."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

She blinked away tears. "Don't be. I should be sorry I took those years away from you."

He brought a chair over. "So, what now?"

"I don't know."

"The great Samantha Carter doesn't know?" He teased gently.

"No, Jack, I don't." She said, looking over at him. She returned back to gaze at her unconscious daughter. "I proved that already, though."

"Hey, you did what you thought was best."

"No, I didn't. I was too afraid to do that." She said, in a hushed whisper.

Jack didn't say anything…just turned his head to see tears slipping past her defenses and down her cheeks.

"I wanted…She…she needed both of…" She began. She choked up, and stopped, though she still managed to communicate all that she needed to in her sorrow.

"C'mere." He said, inviting her to put her head on his shoulder and be comforted by him.

"I'm sorry." She managed.

And then, for the first time in eighteen years, Samantha Carter sobbed unashamedly in the arms of the man she loved.

--

Grace's eyes opened slowly, the bright lights of the infirmary blinding her momentarily as her retinas adjusted to the light.

"Grace." The blond woman said, pulling out of the embrace of the gray-haired man beside her. "You're awake!"

"Grace?" She asked, confused. It sounded like Grace was her name, but…was it?

"Yes. That's your name." The older man replied, gently.

"Who are you?" She managed, still confused about her identity…who was she? Who were they? What were they doing there? And why couldn't she remember who she was?

"We're your parents." The blond woman said as the gray-haired man in the dark blue suit with silver stars pinned on the shoulders took her hand and looked into her eyes lovingly.

"My parents?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"You were exposed to a chemical that suspended communication between the syntaxes in your brain." Her…mother…explained.

Her father chuckled, then turned a glance toward her. "Grace, what your mother is trying to say is that there was an accident. You were exposed to something that made you forget who you are."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Is anyone else hurt?"

"No. It only affected you." Sam said, trying to give a brave smile.

"Why?"

They looked at one another before her father answered. "You were working on something after the other scientists had gone home."

"I'm a scientist?"

"Yes, you are. And a brilliant one at that." Her mother added.

"But I don't…remember…"

"That's okay…we knew that might be a possibility. I'm going to help you go through some of your research and see if something doesn't trigger a memory."

A balding man clad in tan leather clothes hurried into the room. "Sam!" He exclaimed, as he pulled the woman into an embrace. It was a long one, and Grace sensed that they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"Dad." Sam said, after releasing her father from the embrace. She turned to the bed. "Grace, this is my father, Jacob Carter. Your grandfather."

"Grandfather?" She asked, curiously. Somehow, she knew that there was a more familiar way of addressing him, but she wasn't accustomed to using it like many of the other words spilling from her lips.

Jacob looked at Sam, then at Jack, and then at Grace. "What the hell is going on here?"

Sam tensed and pulled her father toward the door. "Let's talk, okay?"

She glanced behind her and Jack nodded, indicating that he would stay with Grace while Sam and Jacob talked and got reacquainted. Undoubtedly, Jacob would come looking for him later, but until then, he would spend some time getting acquainted with his own daughter.

But just as quickly as that realization had come, he admitted that this was going to be harder than he thought because of her amnesia. Grace, herself, didn't know who she was, and now it was his job to help her figure it out.

--

"So, what was that?"

"Grace has amnesia."

"Amnesia?"

"She was exposed to the chemical dargall. It blocks the synapses of the brain, effectively eliminating the pathways that her brain waves would have to travel through to retrieve her memories of her past eighteen years."

"I thought you had a cure for that."

"The process to get that cure was incredibly arduous, and due to one of the errors we encountered when the alien entity took over our computers, we lost some valuable information. The antidote was one of the things we've lost, and have been unable to retrieve."

"And yet you had the chemical on the base?" Jacob asked, skeptically. "Sam, you really have to work on your cover stories…"

"Dad…Grace was a product of some rather disturbing plots enforced by the Tok'ra High Council."

"I know." He said, looking suitably ashamed. "Sam, I'm sorry that you got involved in that…I would never have…"

"I know. But that's why Grace is suffering from amnesia. She couldn't live like that anymore. She…" Sam's throat constricted with the introduction of her very difficult emotion. "She asked Jack to end it right there in the Gate room."

"Jack?"

Sam looked at the floor. "Grace was harsesis."

Jacob's eyebrows raised. "WHAT?"

"Dad…"

"And you just let her lose her memories?"

"DAD!"

His face was nearly red with fury, and she took a deep breath. "I want to talk to Selmak."

He gave her a look of frustration, but as he did so, he bowed his head and Selmak emerged.

"I am sorry for your father's reaction. The Tok'ra High Council had withheld that information from us. We were simply told that you had been with child at the time of your disappearance. Your father concluded that it had been your time with the Tok'ra that had distressed you so as to force you from Stargate Command and the Air Force, but he had not even considered the possibility of what a Tok'ra Harsesis could mean to the Tok'ra cause."

"Well, I'm not going to apologize for protecting my daughter from that." Sam said, protectively.

"And you should not. However, your father's shock had more to do with his dismay that the Tok'ra High Council would subject something like this upon the Tok'ra with whom you had been entrusted."

"Well, they did. And I…Jack lost eighteen YEARS with Grace because of it."

"General O'Neill is not the only father who lost eighteen years of his daughter's life." Selmak responded, wisely.

Sam took a deep breath. "Dad."

"Selmak!" Jacob reprimanded as he took control of his body once again. "What the hell were you trying to say?"

"That you missed me?"

Jacob looked into his daughter's eyes as he heaved a sigh. "Yes, kid, I missed you."

"Look, Jack and I are trying to figure this out just like everyone else."

"I know. It's just…this is really confusing."

"Tell me about it."

"How did Jack react?"

She swallowed. "Uh…he took it in stride."

"Really?"

"We had an altercation, but…I think it's for the better. It got some things out in the open that needed to be said."

"Like your feelings for one another?"

She turned, trying to hide her tears from her father. "Yeah."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Sam."

She turned tear-stained cheeks toward him. "I got pregnant under his command! Of course it's something to be ashamed of!"

"Was it your fault or was it the Tok'ra's fault?"

"Excuse me?"

"Were you in control or were the symbiotes in control?"

Sam tensed. "I have to see if Grace is okay."

"She's fine." Jacob said, reaching out and taking a hold of his daughter's arm. "She's with her father."

Sam swallowed. "They were in control."

"For how long?"

She took a deep breath. "For all except a few seconds…"

"What do you mean 'for all except a few seconds?'"

"Dad, you're not my commanding officer. I'm not in the Air Force, and I don't have to answer your questions." She said, defensively.

"You're right, Sam. You don't have to answer my questions. But I think you want to."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know you. Or at least I did."

"Dad…"

"Sammy, if you don't want to talk…that's fine. But it's been eighteen years since we talked."

"I know that, Dad!"

Jack walked out into the hallway. "Something wrong?"

"No. Is Grace okay?"

"She's fine…just confused."

"Well, that's a feeling that I understand." Jacob said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to check in with Daniel."

He walked off and Sam closed her eyes in humiliation.

"What happened?"

"He started asking for details."

"Your dad was asking for details about our sex life?" Jack asked, a somewhat shocked and yet amused smile on his face.

"No…yes…he wanted to know if it was the symbiotes' fault."

He stiffened. "Oh."

"I didn't know what to tell him…"

"He shouldn't have asked."

"I know…but…"

Jack put his arms around her. "Sam…no matter what anyone does to take recourse, I'm here."

"I know." She said, her voice muffled by her tears and his sleeve.

"Look, we'll figure this out, but for Grace, we need to stay together."

"No, Jack…for us, we need to stay together." She corrected.

"Yes. For us."


End file.
